Ep. 7: Explode! Kenta's Love
is the seventh episode of Hikari Sentai Maskman. Synopsis Kenta encounters a girl who likes him, inspiring Baraba to use a Doggler to sabotage his new love. Plot Kenta is feeling lonely, surrounded by couples out on dates, and decides to find a girl of his own. Oyobu watches from the sidelines as he accosts a series of women and is turned down each time. Returning to his motorcycle, he finds a dog sitting on it, and offers to take it to the ocean instead—and discovers that it's peed on the seat. Nearby, couple of bikers knock down an old woman on the street. Before Kenta can go to help, a girl runs over and helps the old woman up, confronting the bikers when they try to leave and demanding that they apologize. Kenta is impressed, and when the two bikers almost run the pair down, he intervenes and easily defeats them. The girl thanks him, but leaves, saying she's in a hurry, to Kenta's dismay. Underground, Anagmas asks Baraba how he intends to use Doll Doggler, and is surprised when he says he'll turn the creature into a girl. Ignoring his and Prince Igam's objections, Baraba asks Zeba for permission to put this plan into action. Zeba, who has been monitoring Akira through Oyobu, declares the idea "interesting." The next day or so, an excited Kenta finds the girl painting, and offers her flowers, once again watched by Oyobu. She introduces herself as Miyuki, but before Kenta can get further than his own name, he's called into action. As he runs off, Oyobu grabs Miyuki from behind. From the base, Takeru scolds Kenta for being late for training, but Kenta brushes him off and hangs up. The rest of the team is amused, Akira even guessing he's found a cute girl, but Takeru goes to collect Kenta. By now, Kenta's returned, only to find Miyuki gone, her painting supplies abandoned. Bringing the unconscious Miyuki into a tunnel, Oyobu tells Doll Doggler to connect to her, which it does, separating into two pieces before absorbing her into its body. Kenta is picking petals off a flower, wondering whether Miyuki likes him or not, when the imposter appears, asking him to take her to the ocean. He's thrilled, and they run off just as Takeru arrives. Ungler Soldiers and Oyobu attack him. On the beach, Kenta and the fake Miyuki enjoy themselves for a while. As she starts to say something, the dog reappears underneath Kenta's seat, growling at her. Unseen by him, the fake Miyuki's skin glows green. Doll Dogler has now joined Oyobu and the Ungler Soldiers, and fires a blast at the battered Takeru. Fortunately the rest of the team arrives, already suited up, in time to save him. He transforms as well, and the fight continues. While fighting Doll Doggler, Akira hears Miyuki's voice coming from the monster's body, pleading for help. Confused, he pauses long enough for Doll Doggler to grab him and drain his energy. As Kenta brings drinks for himself and Miyuki, saying that he loves her, the dog bites the imposter on the hand. Red sand pours out of the wound, and she bolts. He notices the sand, which transforms into blood in his hand. Following the trail of red sand into a cave, he is attacked by the fake Miyuki, who transforms back into a Doggler and buries him with blasts of dirt. Back at the base, everyone is surprised to see Kenta stumble inside. They put the pieces together, but the Doll Doggler has already fled. Blaming himself, Kenta runs out, even after the others try to physically drag him back. Commander Sanjuuro orders Takeru to watch out for Kenta and save Miyuki, and the team heads out. Underground, the news comes in that Kenta survived the trap, and Zeba warns Baraba that failure is not an option. Oyobu promptly attacks Kenta on the surface, leading him to Miyuki. Startled, Kenta lets his guard down, and is promptly blasted. He finds himself unable to attack while the monster looks like Miyuki, but fortunately Takeru has no such problem. The Doll Doggler takes its natural form once more, and it and Oyobu attack the Maskmen. During the battle, Doll Doggler gets a hold of Kenta, and begins draining his energy, but with Miyuki's encouragement he pounds the monster until it releases her. After a brief tender moment, she flees the battlefield, leaving the team to destroy Doll Doggler with the Shot Bomber. Okelampa promptly revives the creature, and out comes the Great Five. Victory is swift; none of Doll Doggler's blasts even get through. Later, the Maskmen return to the park where Kenta and Miyuko met, which she returned to, and the team encourages Kenta to go to her. However, he refuses, saying he doesn't want to get her attacked by the Tube again. As Miyuki takes up her art supplies, including a new sketch of Kenta, he wishes her farewell from a distance, and promises himself that one day, after he's destroyed the Underground Empire Tube, he'll find her again. Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * , : * : * : Guest Cast *Miyuki: *Old Woman: *Bike Gang: , Notes *The montage of Kenta searching for a girl (from the title card) is put to the 1984 song "No No Circulation" by Koji Kikkawa DVD releases Hikari Sentai Maskman Volume 1 features episodes 1-10. http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/sp21/maskman.html References Category:Hikari Sentai Maskman Category:Sentai episodes